Sal lived very near a swamp. He called it his “hood”. Sal was a very modern salamander. Specifically, he was a spotted salamander from the Caudata tribe. Unbeknown to most humans, Sal was very strong and very fast. When he had to run. Which was seldom. Sal did not like to run. Sal did like to lay in the sunshine on a sunny day near water and catch flying insects. They were his favorite meal. Crawling ants and other bugs were a delicate treat.
Sal thought of himself as a very handsome salamander. He had the classic short, rounded nose, stubby, wide body and a long articular tail. He had four legs. His front legs had four toes and his back legs had five toes. And he had spots. Never did he want to forget he had yellow spots. A very handsome fellow indeed.
He put those thoughts aside. He was on a scouting mission for the tribe. He was the best scout the tribe had available. Sham, the senior scout, was missing. Sal was sent to scout out a new trail from the home-world, across the human trail, to the water. If the humans had succeeded in capturing Sham, the tribe would need a new way to water. They would not be able to use the current one for fear of capture. The human trail was used by fishermen looking for a salamander to add to the bait bucket. Extreme caution was the operative word.
Sal was convinced Sham made a mistake and was captured by the humans. But he did not express that thought to the tribe. Sal thought there was no need to panic the others. Sham was known to go out on his own without telling the Chief where he was going nor when he would be back. Sham was an independent bachelor and had a girl friend or two he visited. The girl friends were from a neighboring tribe on the further shore of the water source. Sham may show up in a day or two, non the worst for wear. Providing the neighboring Chief did not kill him.
Sal was now entering strange territory. He had never been this way before in his short life. He moved very, very slowly. His heart and lungs pounding with his heightened nerves. Moved his head side to side. On the lookout for danger. Advanced, stopped, looked, listened and advanced again. He spotted a clearing just ahead. He moved very slowly to the edge of the clearing, determined it was a trail made by humans but not used for a long time. He spied a Garden snake zooming toward him. Sal knew a family of garden snakes that lived a day's travel away to the south. This one was familiar but Sal did not know his name. The snake spied Sal, stopped, looked listened. Edged closer while warning Sal he was friendly but would take no sssass. Sal knew this was all bluff. The snake was not a warrior species. They exchanged pleasantries. Determined each was from a tribe they were friendly with. From the snake, Sal learned humans had not passed the way for eons in snake and salamander time. Not so long ago in human time. From Sal, the snake learned Sham was missing. The snake agreed to spread the word about the missing scout, Sham. After the snake left, Sal decided this would make a great new way to water. Sal stepped out onto the trail and headed toward where he was sure the water was. Suddenly there was a strange rumbling that seemed to come from the earth itself. THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! Sal looked around as best as he could while frozen in place, exposed.
Epilog.
The tribe never heard from Sham or Sal again. No one
knew what happened to either one. They no longer existed in the
memory of the tribe. Another scout was sent out and became a hero for
finding a new trail to water. He was awarded with two new wives. The
salamander tribe flourished for several more generations before
finally moving to a water source a great distance from the
home-world. Human fishermen kept using the path for a long time.
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